Prepare for birth with a Paediatrician S8

On this week’s episode of Sense by Meg Faure, Meg sits down with Dr. Nellie Balfour — a paediatrician who is 35 weeks pregnant with her second child — to talk through everything you need to know about what happens the moment your baby is born. This is episode three of their real-time pregnancy series, and it’s one of the most practical and reassuring conversations the show has produced.

Dr. Nellie is having an elective C-section at 38 weeks. She’s packed the bag, she’s thought through the birth plan, and she brings both her medical knowledge and her personal experience as a second-time mum to every part of this conversation.

Sensory Personalities — Who Is This Baby?

Meg and Nellie open with the question every third-trimester parent is really asking: who is this little person? Nellie’s baby has been doing somersaults all pregnancy, and Meg explains what that might mean in terms of sensory personality. She walks through the four sensory types — settled, slow to warm up, social butterfly, and sensitive — and what each means for how you parent in those early months.

Nellie’s firstborn is a slow-to-warm child, and she shares her real concerns about how he’ll adjust to a potentially very different baby brother. Meg offers practical, insight-driven strategies for preparing a slow-to-warm toddler: verbal preparation, room walkthroughs, and co-regulation in the early days when two very different little people are suddenly sharing a space.

The Hospital Bag — What You Actually Need

Nellie unpacks her hospital bag in detail. For a C-section specifically, the focus shifts almost entirely to postnatal comfort rather than labour preparation. Her list covers maternity essentials from the Carrywell range, a front-button nightie over pyjama pants (the elastic irritates the scar), breast pads for when the milk arrives on day two or three, a breastfeeding pillow, flip flops for the shared shower, and the one item people consistently forget: a phone charger.

She also covers the baby bag: two nappy sizes because estimated weights from ultrasounds aren’t always accurate, unscented wipes, cotton wool with surgical spirits for the umbilical stump, swaddles, beanies, and a dummy. Meg adds important context on dummies and breastfeeding — the risk isn’t nipple confusion, it’s skipping feeds. Feed first, then use the dummy for non-nutritive sucking after.

Delayed Cord Clamping, First Baths, and the Delivery Room

Nellie explains delayed cord clamping in plain terms: by waiting 30 to 60 seconds before clamping, blood transfers from mum to baby, reducing the risk of anaemia and jaundice. It happens in elective C-sections and, where safe, in emergency sections too.

On first baths, both Meg and Nellie agree: day three is the right time. The vernix absorbs into the skin, and there’s evidence that babies who aren’t bathed early get their hands to their mouth sooner — because they can still taste something familiar from the womb.

Then Meg asks Nellie to step fully into her paediatrician role and describe exactly what happens the moment your baby is born — what she’s looking for when baby is passed to her in the delivery room. Nellie walks through the full newborn check: why a cry matters (it confirms oxygen is moving through the lungs), why blue skin is normal at first, what a floppy baby signals, and how the head-to-toe examination works. Clear, calm, and genuinely demystifying.

APGAR Scores — What They Actually Mean

Meg and Nellie break down APGAR scores properly. It’s not a score out of 10 — it’s a score at one minute and again at five minutes. A low one-minute score isn’t alarming if the five-minute score is strong. But a score that stays low at five minutes is a signal that baby needs more attention. The five-minute APGAR is the one that matters most.

This episode won’t change what happens in your delivery room, but it will mean you understand it. That’s worth a lot

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Prepare for birth with a Paediatrician S8 | E215

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